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She's a winner! One year update**** Have to share my new OTTB!!!

Last Monday I picked up an OTTB from a race training center in Ocala and honestly, at the time I was afraid I might be making a HUGE mistake.

What I was looking for: Green but well restarted, obviously quiet gelding.

What I took home: What appeared to be a drama queen chestnut mare who raced in August and was then chucked out in a field.

We stopped in to see this girl because she was on the way home from another farm we were visiting and we'd heard she was nice looking. Now in her defense, it was the day Hurricane Sandy (then a tropical storm) was passing through and it was VERY windy, and she was pulled out of a field of 10-15 other mares, who were all galloping around, but she came in acting a bit up. We almost didn't even stay to see her ridden, but we wanted to be polite so we waited while the owner jumped on (wearing shorts and sneakers). The owner swore that she rides the horse bareback all over the farm and she used this horse to train her exercise riders because she is so safe, but at the moment, I didn't really believe it.

I hear my trainer muttering, "wow. She's a really nice mover" and a few days later I loaded the girl up and took her home. The whole way home I was having visions of a snorting red she-devil and worrying about what I was getting myself into, but OMG - She's been with us a week and she is the sweetest thing ever! There are definitely lots of things she's never seen, but while she definitely startles and looks, it doesn't go anywhere. She snorts and blows and then goes to check it out.

She had never been bandaged, worn a blanket or lunged, but what she didn't know, she's learning and she's much farther along under saddle than I'd expect for an OTTB.

Wanted to share my update! The red head is coming along beautifully in training. She's just amazingly level headed, very naturally balanced, and straight forward in every sense of the word. She went out on a trail ride on Tuesday (including crossing a stream) and other than a few initial looks at the water, handled it like an old pro!

I LOVE Florida and can't imagine living anywhere else. Yes, the heat is brutal in the summer but we ride before 9:00 am or after 6:00pm and it's all good. She was fantastic about the clipping. We had to twitch her to do her stomach and ears but for a horse that had never been clipped she was really well behaved.

The boots are a Tack of the Day special - their colored boots. While my inner 8-year old was screaming for red and purple, my ingrained fear of George Morris hunting me down in the night made me just go with the gray (as opposed to my standard black)